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Free online short story here at Tor.com, which I'd only really recommend if you like at least two of these three: space opera, alternative sexuality and sex jokes. Review first posted at Fantasy Literature:

“Extracurricular Activities” is a prequel short story that’s part of Yoon Ha Lee’s THE MACHINERIES OF EMPIRE series, which begins with the novel Ninefox Gambit. In this space opera caper-type adventure, we follow one of the early exploits of Shuos Jedao, a character from Ninefox Gambit, while he is an undercover agent for Kel Command. A prior undercover mission by a merchant spaceship commanded by Shuos Meng, an acquaintance of Jedao from their academy days, has gone missing, ship and all, while spying on the Gwa Reality in the Du Station. Jedao is tasked with going to the Du Station and finding and bringing back Shuos, their ship and crew … or at least the intelligence they had gathered on the Gwa-an. A promotion to ship commander is dangled before him as an extra incentive.

The world-building is a bit confusing, but the good news is that you don’t really need to understand the difference between the factions in this world to enjoy it. It’s a world filled with alternative sexuality: gay, trans, group marriages, and more are casually accepted. Much of the humor here is sexual, including frequent innuendos and suggestions from Rhi Teshet, a tall, muscular man whom Jedao considers off-limits for dalliance.

Strip away the sexual issues and the humor and there isn’t a whole lot of plot to this story; the mystery and suspense were somewhat underbaked. But the amusing, intriguing details are enough to make this an interesting and worthwhile read, especially if you’re interested in (or have read) Ninefox Gambit. This is a self-contained, if rather light, story that doesn’t require the reader to be familiar with this universe or its characters.

Read information about the author

Yoon Ha Lee is an American science fiction writer born on January 26, 1979 in Houston, Texas. His first published story, “The Hundredth Question,” appeared in Fantasy & Science Fiction in 1999; since then, over two dozen further stories have appeared. He lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.